Homeless mother of seven children Margaret Cash in court for stealing €321 worth of clothes
By Brendan Grehan
A HOMELESS mother of seven children has been placed on a 12-month Probation Bond by Tallaght District Court for stealing clothes from Penneys in Nutgrove.
Margaret Cash made the headlines two months ago when she and six of her children spent the night in the public office of Tallaght Garda Station.
Margaret Cash at a homelessness protest outside South Dublin County Council
Pictures of the event went viral and Cash subsequently appeared on tv and radio programmes and spoke at anti-homelessness demonstrations.
Cash, aged 28, with an address at Westpark Gate, Tallaght, had pleaded guilty to stealing clothing worth 321 euro from Penneys, Nutgrove Shopping Centre, Rathfarnham, on February 17, 2018.
When the case was called there was no appearance from Cash in court.
Her solicitor, Kevin Tunney, said his client was “on the bus”.
Judge McNamara put the case to second calling. Cash later turned up in court.
Judge McNamara commented that Cash had 38 previous convictions and was a homeless mother of seven children.
She asked Sergeant Michael Ahern if Cash had come to the attention of the gardai since the incident.
Sgt Ahern replied: “No”.
He said that in relation to the theft from Penneys that the property had not been recovered.
Judge McNamara told Cash: “I have read the probation report and I see that there are issues in your background and your personal circumstances which cannot be ignored but you cannot go around committing thefts. What would happen to your children if you were to go to jail.”
Judge McNamara said she would deal with the case by way of Section 1.1 (2) of the Probation Act.
She placed Cash on a Probation Bond of 100 euro for 12 months and on condition that she engages with the Probation Services, the Restorative Justice Services and the Homeless Support Services.
